GSW
by belletane
Summary: "Thanks Casey! Owe you one!" "You sure do," but Casey would never know the significance of Severide's remark. ( This story is dedicated to Pallada and Eve. Just for being you.)


**GSW**

Truck 81 ploughed through the foot-high snowdrifts that blanketed the whole city of Chicago. Partially buried cars lined the streets, some intentionally parked there by residents, others simply abandoned by their owners, who would have to dig them out to reclaim them.

"Steady Cruz", Casey said quietly, mostly to himself, as he stared out at the swirling snowstorm.

"Got it Lieutenant", Cruz smiled in response. "This baby is fine"

Truck 81 certainly was Cruz's baby and he cherished her like she belonged to him. Casey just grinned, that wide toothy smile of his.

"Don't wanna become another wreck Cruz!"

"Hey no way Lieutenant"

"Been there, done that!" someone piped up from the back. Casey scrunched his face into a mock frown and his team laughed loudly at the remark. Cruz just smiled wryly, remembering the collision with Welch's Truck 66 when 81 had been seriously damaged, along with Mouch's eye and Casey's face.

Eventually he had been exonerated of all blame and Welch had lost his position as Lieutenant at Austin firehouse because of it.

Up ahead Casey could see flashing Ambo lights, warning him that they had reached their call out scene at Wacker and Madison intersection.

"Okay guys we're here" he announced to his team behind him as Cruz pulled the Truck up, Engine 51 and Squad 3 just behind them. He jumped out of the cab , and into the fresh fallen snow, his heavy boots crunching onto packed ice beneath. The temperature was well below freezing, probably about -10 degrees he guessed. The wind chill made it seem even colder and it stung his face as he stood in the arctic blast of swirling snow.

His eyes scanned over the scene of the MVA - there were two cars that had rolled onto their roofs, one had hit a street sign which had buckled the bonnet and all its windows were smashed. Four occupants were apparently conscious and screaming to be rescued. Another vehicle had overturned at the other side of Madison and was partially buried in a huge snowdrift, one more vehicle was on its side and the fifth looked as if it was just parked in the middle of the intersection. The Chief had been delayed on another call out and by the sound of things from central, it didnt look like he would get here anytime soon. So that gave seniority and responsibility over to Truck Lieutenant Casey.

Severide and Casey spoke for a few moments, forming their plan of action, working out which team members were going to do what. Then Severide strode off with his Squad, conveying orders to them.

Seconds later, Casey turned to the firefighters grouped behind him.

"Otis! Herrmann! Mouch!" Casey called out orders to his truck team, in his customary way, ensuring that all of them knew exactly what their Lieutenant required. Their prime objective as always was to save and preserve the lives of the people involved in the accident.

Some minutes later, Ambo 61's Shay and Rafferty were busy with loading a crash victim into the back of their vehicle and a second EMT team were hunkered down by the snow-hidden sidewalk, working on more casualties rescued from the wrecks. Distant sirens announced that more ambos were on their way to the scene.

Casey spoke to the squad lieutenant through his radio headset for a few seconds.

"Severide l can take the junker now - you stay where you are OK?

"Ok , thanks Casey" Severide's reply crackled back to him. "Owe you one!"

"You sure do" Casey grinned to himself. But he'd never know the significance of Severide's remark.

Leaving his truck team to right the car that had ended up on its side,Casey turned and walked across the intersection towards the gold colored junker, stopping just behind it Missing licence plate but otherwise there didn't seem to be a massive amount of damage to the vehicle. Dented doors and a ripped rear bumper. Since he didn't know what condition it had been in previously it was a little hard to determine what was tonight's accident damage and what wasn't.

He could smell gasoline fumes - never a good sign and he was concerned for the safety of the vehicle's occupants - even though they did seem to be driving around in a deathtrap. The junker could possibly burst into flames at any moment. He'd need to be quick.

He strode round to the passenger side and wiped away the fresh smattering of icy snow from the window with his left arm, tapping on the glass with the halligan.

"Hey! Fire Department!" he called "You ok in there?".

Nothing.

"You ok? Are you hurt?" His voice was louder now.

He tapped on the glass again. Harder this time.

No reply but Casey could see some movement inside. A good sign.

He tried the dented door but it wouldn't shift so he slid the end of the halligan into the gap and put all his weight behind it to pry it apart.

With a groan of metal against metal and a loud 'CRUNCH' the door gave way and he could open it. Casey pulled the flashlight from his coat and switched it onto a high beam.

He swung the door back and leaned a little so he could check more closely on the two people inside the old car.

The young man in the passenger seat had a bleeding cut in the middle of his forehead, most likely from impact with the dash Casey surmised, and he seemed to be unconscious. Neither of them had been wearing a seat belt but he couldn't see any more visible injuries. The driver began to stir a little, shifting in his seat.

"Sir, can you hear me?". the truck Lieutenant asked.

A gruff, hoarse voice muttered something Casey couldn't make out.

"Fire department! We're gonna get you out okay? Just don't move - try to stay still".

Casey straightened up and stood the halligan against the rusting rear door, raising one hand to click on his radio. He was about to speak but a loud 'CLICK' and the glint of solid metal inside the car stopped him.

"Shut the fuck up!"the same gruff voice snarled. "Get away from the car!"

Casey's eyes snapped wide and he instinctively raised the other hand, still holding the flashlight..

"Hey!" he started. He'd been about to say ' what the hell are you doing?' but the huge explosion like a giant firework going off right in front of him put paid to any more words.

Realisation rang through Casey's stunned mind. He had been shot.

The bullet's white-hot impact sent him stumbling backwards several yards, dumping him onto the ice, flashlight flying from his hand, helmet rolling from his head onto the snow.

Someone yelling at Casey to 'shut the fuck up', followed by Casey's shout and then the explosion of a gunshot coming through loud and clear on everyone's radio headset scattered the first responder teams, some flattening into the snow, others ducking for cover, hands on helmets for protection..

No more shots came and after some moments, Severide risked lifting his head up above the snow pile he had thrown himself behind, his eyes flicking back and forth.

'WTF' was in his head. What in the hell was going on? For god's sake they couldn't be in the middle of a goddamn gun battle as well as a snowstorm!

He watched with a somewhat confused expression as the junker's engine roared into life and it tore away across the intersection, no lights on, rear wheels skidding on the ice as it disappeared up Wacker Drive.

And where the hell was Casey? He'd been standing there next to the junker only a few seconds ago.

Seconds later his mental question was answered when he spotted the truck Lieutenant a few yards from where the junker had stood. Casey had fallen and was trying to get up. But he couldnt.

Then- shouting and yelling, noise as machinery cracked back into action while the teams got on with the business of trying to get people out of the wreckage and save their lives.

"Casey!" Severide yelled as loud as he could. No reply. "Casey!"

Severide was panicked now as he scrambled and skidded across the ice, landing on his knees by his little brother. He felt as if everything was turning into a slow motion dream but damnit this was as real as it could get!

Flooded by a burst of dopamine, Casey couldn't feel much pain right at that moment. He gritted his teeth, struggling to keep his wits about him, trying to get up, his heavy boots slipping on the ice and snow. And his arms wouldn't do what he wanted them to.

Suddenly Severide's face was above him, agonized, angry, frustrated.

This should have been him. He was the one who was going to have taken the junker. But Casey could see how squad were fixed with the upturned car and so he had taken it on himself to do it instead.

"Sev - gotta get those vics outa the cars" Casey was muttering "Cant let anyone die. The guys in -"

Casey's brain was still racing a million miles an hour with an adrenaline rush that fuelled his struggle to get to his feet and back to work with his team .They shouldn't be without him. They were his responsibility. The whole thing was his responsibilty because Boden had been delayed.

Blood was spraying over Casey, soaking his turnout coat, melting bright red tunnels into the snow, splattering across Severide as he knelt by Casey's side.

Severide reached out and tried to push him back to the snowy ground but Casey was resisting.

"Casey" he stated calmly., although he didn't feel calm inside right now, "You're hit"

"Gotta get back-" Casey managed to grunt out, spattered blood from the bullet wound drooling from his mouth, down his neck.

His steel green eyes were wide with adrenaline-fuelled fear now and he didn't even really know where the single bullet had struck him. Severide was trying to find the wound - he needed to stop this bleeding and quick. He pulled off his own work gloves and yanked open Casey's turnout coat., searching for the source of all this blood. A gunshot wound in Casey's upper right thigh revealed just how seriously he had been injured. Bright red blood was spurting several feet from the bullet hole, drenching Casey's head and torso.

Casey's breathing was ragged and rapid now from the excruciating burning agony that now threatened to paralyze him.

"Don't - wanna - die" he managed to stammer out., his teeth beginning to chatter.

"Matty, you're not gonna die" Severide told him in a steady and calming voice, trying to hold Casey still. He wasn't sure if he believed his own words but he had to say something to try and reassure his little brother.

Casey was still struggling against unconsciousness, equating it with death, but he had begun to feel a strange coldness spreading through his body now and he couldn't form words, couldn't move his head. He felt frozen to the ground.

"Sev-" he finally managed to choke out around the slimy blood in his mouth, eyes rolling back in his head, losing his co-ordination, unable to struggle any more as his adrenaline level began to crash.

Suddenly Herrmann was there, hunkered down behind Casey, pushing a folded towel beneath his blood drenched head, and wrapping a blanket around his torso.

"Fuck" Severide cursed. It was clearly an arterial bleed. He'd known it but seeing it just confirmed his worst fears.

"Arterial" he stated simply. " Gotta get this bleeding stopped or he's gonna -" Severide was going to have said the word 'die' but a look from Herrmann stopped him.

The squad Lieutenant grabbed his gloves and began to press as hard as he could over the ragged hole at the top of Casey's right thigh. No EMT's or ambos were on scene - they had left to transport crash vics to Lakeshore moments before Casey had been shot - it was up to him now.

Casey could only make unintelligible moaning sounds now and he was starting to drift, his eyes flickering.

"Casey! Stay with me!" Severide shouted.

- _Must stop him going to sleep at all costs-_

Herrmann's face was creased up with worry for his truck Lieutenant. Severide grunted with the effort of keeping up the pressure on Casey's wound..

"Casey! Come on! Stay with me man!" Severide shouted again, his voice increasingly desperate. His EMT training was kicking in and it was going to take all his knowledge and strength to keep Casey alive long enough for the EMT's to take over.

He lifted a hand and slapped Casey's blood-slicked cheek.

"Matty! Come on!"

He slapped Casey's face again. Harder this time.

"Don't go to sleep Case! Stay with me!"

With every beat of the truck Lieutenant's heart his life was draining away into the snow. Severide felt somewhat nauseous now but he kept continuous pressure on Casey's leg, managing to stem the blood loss. Severide's heart was almost beating out of his chest with the strenuous effort. He knew a tourniquet was out of the question- the wound was too close to the top of Casey's leg. Not enough room to be able to place it effectively. The bullet may as well have hit Casey in the heart.

Herrmann had stood up now and was on his radio but Severide couldn't concentrate on with what the veteran firefighter was saying.

"Shit! Where's the goddamn ambo Herrmann?"

\- _K_ _eep the pressure on it Severide - you're the only hope he's got right now_ -

"It's coming Lieutenant"

Severide barely heard Herrmann's steadying voice above him.

Casey couldn't breathe well now He just wanted the agony to stop. He felt as if he was burning from the inside out, scared that everything he was would just be sucked away in his blood through the wound and that he would just become - nothing. Pain rolled through him in white hot waves. He wanted to scream but he couldn't - small moans were the only sounds he could make His whole body was trembling with the pain, shaking with the cold and the shock..

- _Just stop this pain. l need to sleep now. l need that dreamless, painless dark_.

 _So sad to leave everyone at 51 behind.l hope my Mom and Christie will be proud of what l've done with my life. So sad that l'll never be able to say goodbye_ , _that l'll never be able to tell them l love them. l've worked hard, given up so much. l know l've done good-_ _l've saved people's lives_ , _helped them, made a real diffference._

 _But now l'll never have the family l desperately wanted, never be able to watch my kids grow up-_

Casey knew he was going to die. He just accepted it. There was nothing he could do to change it. Numbness was spreading throughout his whole body now. His strength was gone, he just needed to sleep.

The far distant sound of Severide's voice brought him back. Then the white hot agonizing pain tore through him again, shredding every nerve in his body

"Matty! Wake up! Come on buddy! Stay with me!"

Casey felt someone slapping his face again but he couldn't respond. Couldn't move, couldn't speak. Couldn't let Severide know he had heard him, that he knew he was beside him. That he knew he was doing everything he could to save his life. He couldn't tell Severide that he wanted to sleep now, that Kelly needed to let him go…

"How long for the goddamn ambo, Herrmann?" Severide was saying.

" Few minutes Lieutenant"

" He - doesn't - have - "

By now, Otis, Mouch and Cruz were hovering, their faces panicked.

"Nothing you guys can do." Severide looked up at them "Just keep going - it's what he'd want".

Casey's truck guys looked to Herrmann for affirmation. The older firefighter nodded them away. He didn't really want them to see this anyway. Didn't want them to see their Lieutenant like this.

"He'll be fine" Severide called after them. Why the hell had he said that? Giving them false hope. Casey certainly was not going to be fine.

Severide had no clear idea of exactly how long he had been kneeling there by Casey, pressing on his wound with all his own strength. After what seemed like hours, but was most likely only a few minutes tops, two EMT's were hunkered down by Casey. Herrmann remained holding Casey's blood splattered head, stopping him from moving it in case of any injury to his neck when he had fallen.

"Arterial bleed" Severide gritted. His jaw clenched and face sweating with the sheer effort of maintaining the pressure on Casey's wound. "He's lost a lot of blood-"

"Any other injuries?" one of the EMT's asked. Severide shook his head. "Don't think so-only one shot went off. He was trying to get up for a while but-"

"Any exit wound?"

"Couldn't find one-"

"Bullet's probably still in there - it could be keeping him from bleeding

out. Okay just keep going a little longer and then we can get him packed with some pressure dressings."

The EMT's began their emergency care for Casey, working quickly and effectively around Severide, cutting away his sleeves, shirt, and turnout pants' right leg around the wound.

Their conversation was highly skilled tech stuff, some that Severide knew and some that he didn't. He heard the words 'hemorrhagic shock' and his insides turned cold. This couldn't all be for nothing, it

just couldn't. He couldn't imagine his life without Casey. Yes they had their fallouts and disagreements, pretty much like all families, but they were as near to being brothers as anyone could be, even closer, some would say, than blood brothers. They had spent such a huge part of their adult lives together - all through training and now all their time at 51. What the hell would he do now if Casey didn't survive?

"Do something! Save him! He's my brother! " Severide snapped out.

They wiped blood from Casey's exposed chest and stuck on the ECG pads that wired him to the monitor.

"He's tachycardic" Severide heard as the EMTs watched the small screen.

"He's in VF!"

"Okay Lieutenant you need to move away from him now - we have to shock him"

Pressure dressings with Celox gauze were poised over Casey's wound and pressed down hard once Severide lifted his hands from Casey's thigh.

Fresh blood spurted out momentarily until it was once again stemmed. They secured more pressure dressings and bandages in place around the wound.

"He's flatlining!" Severide heard a voice state.

The EMT' gelled up the paddles and placed them on Casey's chest..

"Clear!" the EMT with the paddles ordered.

Casey's entire blood-drenched body jerked violently as the electric shock flooded through him.

Nothing. Still flatlining.

"Okay try 250!"

"Clear!"

Second shock. Still flat lining.

"Okay try 300!"

"Clear!"

Severide could hardly watch now and he welcomed the distraction as Chief Boden approached, having finally arrived, his face serious, eyes betraying his worry. He placed a comforting hand on Severide's shoulder.

"He's strong Severide! And he's stubborn. He wont give up easily!".

"I know Chief. Don't know if he can survive this one-"

"Go with him Severide. I got things here"

Severide nodded.

"Thanks Chief"

Then - faint beeps from the monitor, faint beats from the screen.

"We got him back"

The EMTs slipped a C-collar around Casey's neck to stabilise any potential spinal injury, then they got him onto a backboard and lifted him onto the gurney.. They fastened the webbing straps over Casey's unconscious blood-soaked body and loaded him into the back of the waiting ambo.

Herrmann touched Severide's arm.

"Lieutenant - we got it. Go with Casey"

Severide looked at him, his face showing his gratitude.

"Thanks Herrmann".

Severide climbed up into the ambo behind the paramedic and sat on the bench, removing his helmet, staring down at his bloody hands.

He wasn't about to leave Casey on his own. He'd been on his own since he was only a kid. And now that Hallie was gone, he was still on his own. If there was any chance he was going to survive, Severide wanted to make sure he was there for him. He would be with Casey even if he didn't pull through this.

Severide wasn't about to let his brother die all alone.

 **THE END**


End file.
